Nueces County property values up $692M from first estimate from appraisal district

CORPUS CHRISTI - Corpus Christi wasn't the only taxing entity to find a huge discrepancy between the appraisal district's first estimate for property values and the latest figures.

Nueces County, which has been conducting budget hearings for a month planning for a budget shortfall, has $692 million more in appraised property as of Friday than it did at the district's first estimate May 3, representing a $2 million difference in property taxes if the tax rate stayed flat.

But appraisal district officials said they're not sure that discrepancy is an error. It may just be a reflection of how the initial estimates are sometimes off because the district expects some property owners to protest their values.

"As far as the county's numbers being incorrect, I don't have any evidence of that," Chief Appraiser Ollie Grant said. "We are investigating and trying to find out if there are any other problems."

The appraisal district sets values for all property in the county. Those values are totaled and used to calculate the tax base for a taxing entity, such as a city or school district. The taxing entities base their tax rates on the total property value in their areas.

The appraisal district erroneously calculated all homestead exemptions in Corpus Christi city limits twice and gave city officials a property value total that was $700 million off. The city spent months in budget meetings preparing for a substantial budget deficit. The City Council learned the night before they were scheduled to vote on the first reading of the budget that the numbers were incorrect and postponed the vote.

County Judge Loyd Neal said he has asked for an explanation for the $692 million difference but isn't sure what happened. The appraisal district might have miscalculated abatements, he said.

"We got some answers, but I'm not sure they were correct," Neal said. "I don't have any idea what really happened. I am going to find out."

The county doesn't start its new budget year Oct. 1, so it isn't in as much of a time crunch as the city, which starts its new fiscal year Aug. 1. The discrepancy still puts the county behind on its budget planning, Neal said.

"It's a huge deal," he said. "We've already had a whole month of budget hearings. We've done some work."

During the City Council meeting where the problem was discussed, Assistant Chief Appraiser Jay Reynolds told the city that the miscalculation was isolated to Corpus Christi figures.

Grant said he asked his staff to double-check everything.

"If we find something, we're going to face up to it and admit it," he said.

The Caller-Times asked to see the most recent list of taxing entities' total appraised values to compare it with one the newspaper had in May. Officials did not immediately provide the list.

Discrepancies in the preliminary property values won't affect the Port Aransas budgeting process because city officials there say they've learned not to rely on early numbers.

"The preliminary number last year was so far off from the final number that we just basically completely discount the preliminary number," Mayor Keith McMullin said. "So right now we're in a wait-and-see mode. Our budget season is time-constrained as it is. Any insight, the sooner, the better."